Our Journey...

practiced several division strategies (relating division to multiplication, using subtraction, dividing by renaming, estimating quotients) in maths and we did a mini-quiz to evaluate our knowledge.

finished our French story "Tant que couleront les rivières'' which ended with the main character and his siblings being sent to residential school. We had a classroom discussion on this sensitive topic. We then practiced writing a short resume about the story. We also worked on finishing on French book reports.

talked about gender stereotypes and expression of emotions during In-focus with Mme Helen. We talked about how society expects girls and boys to express emotions such as anger, sadness, worry and fear.

practiced reading our English poems and our different roles for the Poetry Café and prepared the classroom for the event. GREAT WORK DIVISION 8! And what a turn-out! Thanks for coming and sharing this experience everyone!

did an overview of the circulatory, respiratory and digestive systems in Science. We finished working on our groups projects and presented all the projects on each body system to the class.

practiced our sportsmanship, passing and shooting skills while playing basketball during P.E

went to the library to check-out a new novel at our reading level in French to read during Spring break.

went to see Poultry in motion for a 20 minute presentation on the cycle of a chicken's life.

learned about the circulatory and respiratory systems in Science. We also started our group projects related to a specific system. Each group of 4 students is working one of the 6 systems we are studying on the human body. Students used many French book resources to find out new information and worked together to create an engaging poster and presentation. Presentations will be at the end of next week.

continued reading our French story called "Tant que couleront les rivières''. We practiced our reading comprehension by discussing and writing about important events within the story, new characters and their relation to each other. We also started working on our book report poster related to the book we had chosen at the library. For grammar this week, we focused on adjectives and how to properly modify them according to gender and number.

learned about the homonyms they're, their and there in English. We practiced choosing the correct word as a group and then completed a worksheet on the topic individually. We made our poetry booklet and decided which poem we would like to read out next week.

learned strategies for solving long divisions with remainders in math. We used the strategies of subtracting and decomposing numbers. We also practiced estimating answers by using our number sense.

practiced playing basketball games in P.E We worked on passing the ball to our team mates at least three times before trying to score a basket. We also practiced a variety of basketball passes.

focused practicing sentences and conjugating the verb "finir" in French. We finished French assignments such as writing a story and finish writing an "initial situation". We also read a French text related to Pink shirt day and answered comprehension questions individually.

finished working on our haiku poems in English.

did a science experiment with a partner to measure how quickly our nervous system can react and catch a falling ruler. We created a chart and entered our data and also learned how to calculate our average reaction speed. We answered questions related to the experiment and how the nervous system in our body works. We also explored the muscular system by reading our Science info packet and having a classroom discussion on the topic.

practiced multiplying 2-digit and 3-digit numbers by one digit numbers in math. We reviewed strategies for memorizing multiplication facts and how to use these to answer multiplication and division equations. We also practiced problem-solving skills. We then assessed our knowledge on multiplication and division equations/word-problems.

did a classroom activity to talk about inclusion and what actions we have seen/done to include others. This was linked to our Pink shirt day assembly. We each wrote a thought related to kindness and inclusion on a pink leaf and added them to the "inclusion trees" in the front hall of the school.

monitored our progress related to our term two goals and made a plan of action for our term 3 goals.

learned about the human body in Science. We talked about what we already knew and we watched an interesting video about 17 interesting facts related to the human body! We more specifically learned about the skeleton, certain organs (lungs, intestine, liver, heart, stomach and kidneys) and the nervous and muscular systems.

started reading the novel "Tant que couleront les rivières'' by Larry Loyie in French. We discussed the characters, the introduction and what the problem of the story could be. We practiced reading comprehenesion strategies, including how to predict, ask questions, decipher unknown words by using clues and the context of the context.

reviewed strategies to answer division problems in math such as using repeated addition or repeated subtraction and using multiplication. We further explored using matrices as a multiplication strategy. We practiced multiplying two-digit numbers by one digit numbers by using the strategy of developing the numbers in steps.

visited the library to pick a French book at our current reading level to work on for a book report.

practiced writing sentences and conjugating the verb "dire". We reviewed the plural ending of verbs and how to apply our conjugation of verb knowledge into our French writing practices.

worked on finishing our French written story as well as our English acrostic and concrete poems.

talked about the anger iceberg ; how often when we are angry, there are other emotions hidden under the surface. We practiced recognizing emotions by feeling them in our body and we drew a picture of our sadness and what sadness feels like to us during In-focus with Mme Helen.

wrote an opinion paragraph on the topic of whale hunting and the tradition of the Nuu-Chah-Nulth nation for French writing related to our Socials studies. We planned our ideas using the "hamburger"planning strategy to create our introduction sentence, reason #1 with details, Reason #2, etc and concluding sentence. We practiced using transition words to introduce each new idea. We continued to work on our French stories. We also focused on how to write the beginning of a story by presenting the time frame, location, characters and initial situation. We practiced conjugating the verb "devoir".

continued working on our acrostic poems in English. We also started exploring concrete poems and viewed some examples together. We chose any topic that interested us, a related image and started writing out our own concrete poems.

practiced using two different division strategies (sharing & grouping) to solve word problems in math. We practiced using multiplication to solve division equations and creating a matrix to visualize multiplication problems. We explored patterns found in multiplication tables as a useful strategy to solve equations. We also explored the strategy of "working backwards" to solve word problems by drawing a diagram with each step of the problem and then putting the plan into action by reversing each step to find the solution.

played a new warm-up game inspired by a game found in our math book in P.E We also started practicing our basketball skills by dribbling and throwing basketballs.

did a small group activity, trying to work together to recreate a paper structure. Afterwards, we discussed the language we used <<I think I can see it!>> versus <<This is impossible!>>

​explored how to double known operations to find the product of other multiplications in math. We also practiced dividing numbers by two and doubling multiplications to solve other equations as well as how to multiply numbers by 10 to help us calculate multiplications by 8 and 9. We explored using grids and chart to visualize multiplication and practiced solving word problems related to multiplication in French. We did an overview of all the strategies we learned to solve multiplication problems.

explored the purpose of poetry in English. How we can entertain our reader with a narrative poem or express a though or feelings with a lyrical poem. This week, we focused on creating an acrostic poem.

continued working on writing our individual stories in French. We focused on writing introduction, development and concluding paragraphs. We focused on the verb ''faire'' this week.

practiced writing an opinion paragraph using the ''hamburger'' analogy. We had to choose a topic on our case study regarding discrimination towards First Nations peoples and practiced writing out an introduction sentence, reason #1 with details, #2, #3 with details and final concluding sentence. We also studied a new case study in socials related to the Nuu-Chah-Nulth nation on the West Coast and the debate over whale hunting and cultural traditions. We assessed our ability to read a text and find the appropriate answers linked to the case study questions individually.

​talked about the emotion of anger during In-Focus with Mme Helen. What makes us angry and what are some strategies we personally use to acknowledge and deal with our anger?

did a self-evaluation about our current behavior at school and did a check-in regarding our Term 2 goals.

did a review of the historical timeline related to Asian immigrants and the Canada's West Coast in Socials. We also explored our second case study on the topic of discrimination towards First Nation Peoples in Canada. We discussed the Indian Law, residential schools, reserves and the banning of potlatches. We practiced reading a text with a partner and answering questions of our case study related to What is the main idea of the text? Who is involved? What? Why? How is this an example of discrimination? Which rights and freedoms of the Canadian Charter were not respected? What contributions have First Nations peoples given to Canadian society? We did an overview of all our answers as a whole class.

continued working on our individual stories in French and focused on the verb ''aimer''.

talked about abstract nouns versus concrete nouns in English and read examples of metaphor poems before getting creative and writing out our own version!

started our multiplication and division chapter in math. We explored how to multiply by ''jumping'' on a numerical line. We learned the vocabulary of factors, products and matrix. We practiced answering multiplication equations by referencing known equations. We practiced working out of our math manual as well as by exploring math centers with a partner.

​​practiced conjugating the verb ''aller'' in French. We practiced writing out full sentences using the correct verb tense. We also learned about the informal/formal use of the pronouns tu/vous in French and in what scenarios to use them.

started planning a story in French using the 6 mains questions to get our ideas flowing. We also thought about the framework of our story by thinking about what we can see, hear and feel. We started writing out the narrative outline of our story as well.

practiced using different strategies for solving addition and subtraction problems in math. We reviewed different steps to help us solve word problems such as using estimation and then creating an equation to find the exact answer. We practiced how to verify our answers. We then assessed our knowledge for estimation, addition and subtraction. We also watched a TED talk on a "mathmatician" who was able to calculate square numbers of up to 5 digits! This was very impressive and we we able to review what a squared number means and learned about mnemonics, a strategy used for memorization.

practiced recognizing metaphors and similes in a paragraph and then practiced creating our own in English. We worked hard to finish our Bio poems.

we learned about self-reflection during In-Focus. We practiced noticing how we feel and what makes us feel this way. We did an activity in which Mme Helen read a story and we identified the feelings, what the feelings were connected to in the story and a memory of a personal connection to the feeling.

read a book called "Sur les traces d'Émeuly Meuphy- Le droit à l'égalité entre les filles et les garçons''. This is a book written about the Charter of rights and freedoms for kids. We talked about poverty, equality of salary and manifestations. Students discussed these topics and then wrote a reflection on the story.

learned about the Canadian history of Asian immigrants and answered questions related to our ''case study'' during Socials. We discussed sensitive topics such as the Chinese head tax and cultural discrimination. When we finished the case study, students wrote a reflection about how they felt towards this part of our history. We also worked in groups to recreate the timeline related to Asian immigration in Canada.

practiced and performed in small groups short sketches created by the students demonstrating their understanding of the Canadian Charter of rights during Social Studies. We also learned about the Pacific littoral zone and how/why many Asian immigrants came to the west coast of Canada to immigrate in the 1800 and 1900s. We played a classroom bingo game to answer questions related to the Charter of rights and then answered questions individually to assess knowledge.

continued to practiced our addition and subtraction skills using a variety of strategies in math. We also practiced explaining why we think the answer to an equation seems true by verifying our answer and using estimation.

continued our Extreme Writing program in English this week to promote writing fluency. In English, we also learned about metaphors for our poetry unit and started writing a Bio Poem using descriptive words.

talked about and acted out different emotions humans feel with a partner during In-focus. We wrote one memory and drew an emoji linked to each emotion.

talked about the different groups of verbs in French and how to conjugate them. We specifically focused on the verb ''être'' this week. We also read a book called ''Petit Inuit et les deux questions''. While reading this book, we practiced identifying the narrative outline of the story by ourselves and then together as a class. We then each chose a Livromanie book and practiced identifying and writing out its narrative outline.

we practiced our sportsmanship and mobility skills while playing hockey during P.E

started our Extreme Writing sessions in French, which consist of 20 minutes of daily writing to promote fluency. Students are given inspiration images and/or a choice of 3 writing prompts. This daily activity provides students with valuable time to practice and improve their ''full writing process'' ideas. Next week, we will be doing the same activity but in English.

practiced our subtraction skills for numbers up to 10 000 using a variety of strategies such as decomposing numbers, converting numbers and being flexible with numbers to help in mental math. We also did math exploration centers related to addition and subtraction with a partner.

made self-regulation bracelets by choosing special beads of our preference with Mme Helen during In-focus.

had a gallery walk to look at all of our classmates' book reports and practiced writing down information in French regarding one of the book reports that interested us.

talked about the Canadian census and immigration population in socials. We learned how to make a graph to show the population of people in Canada who were born in a different country. We watched a video on citizenship and talked about the Canadian Charter of rights. We then worked collaboratively with our groups of 3 to create a sketch related to the charter of rights to show our understanding of our right to freedom and equality.

we watched videos on the topic of making mistakes in English. We learned about neurons and how doing challenging activities creates more connections between them.